Jasmin Lindenmeir

Little Tiger has acquired I Am Strong Just Being Me, an empowering new picture book from award-winning author Laura Dockrill, illustrated by Kip Alizadeh.

Perry Emerson, Commissioning Editor at Little Tiger, acquired world rights from Jodie Hodges at United Agents, with illustrations being acquired from Mandy Suhr at Storywise. I Am Strong Just Being Me will publish in Spring 2025.

From the power of silence to the strength of an embrace, a curious young child explores the many different ways to be strong in this thought-provoking, beautifully illustrated book.

Perry Emerson, Commissioning Editor said:

It has been an incredible honour to work alongside Laura Dockrill and Kip Alizadeh, two hugely talented picture book makers, to create I Am Strong Just Being Me. Laura’s unmatched picture book voice, and Kip’s stunning, cleverly considered illustrations have come together to create a gorgeous book that works on many levels to convey a powerful, and empowering, message about the kinder, gentler and more empathetic ways we can be ‘strong’. We couldn’t be prouder to be publishing this book on the Little Tiger list.

 Laura Dockrill said:

We put a lot of pressure on young people to be ‘strong.’ This demand expects a lot from us, and I find sets off anxiety, trigger-shoots my nervous system and sends me into ‘fight or flight.’ But when I am kind to myself, I am able to cope better, to think clearer and to celebrate my efforts. I Am Strong Just Being Me is a book about being human, asking for help and leading with love. I hope that it will help my son navigate the world with softness and remind him that it’s ok to keep learning as we go. Kip has done the most beautiful job with the illustrations in capturing the metaphor of a garden to show how nature constantly learns to adapt and thrive in the face of adversity. This really is a group effort, and I’m so proud of this special book we’ve created.

Kip Alizadeh said:

I was inspired to make the illustrations for I Am Strong Just Being Me by my own experiences of non-traditional strength and resilience, especially what I witness in nature. I used sketches of trees, flowers, animals and people that I’ve drawn while out and about as reference for the artwork, and I based the character of Bean on myself as a child!

Little Tiger will publish I Am Strong Just Being Me in Spring 2025.

‘Everyone’s falling for Laura Dockrill’ VOGUE

Laura Dockrill is an award-winning writer from Brixton, South London.

Laura is the author of Angry Cookie and The Lipstick. Her first book for children, Darcy Burdock, was shortlisted for the Waterstones Book of The Year Prize and the Carnegie Medal, and her young adult novel Big Bones was shortlisted for the YA Book Prize 2018 and earned her plaudits like ‘Top 10 Literary Talent’ from The Times newspaper and Top 20 Hot Faces to Watch from Elle magazine.

Laura’s upcoming picture book Grey, illustrated by Lauren Child, publishes in May 2024.

Author social media handles

Instagram: @lauraleedockrill
Twitter/X: @LauraDockrill

Kip is an illustrator and visual artist. Recent projects include illustrating the Lambda Literary Award nominated The Wishing Flower written by AJ Irving. Kip is queer, Iranian and English and lives in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Illustrator social media handles

Instagram: @kipalizadeh
Twitter/X: @kipalizadeh

Little Tiger has acquired Nathanael Lessore’s brilliantly funny young middle grade series, NOT My Superpower, illustrated by Simran Singh.

Senior Commissioning Editor Mattie Whitehead has acquired Nathanael Lessore’s NOT My Superpower series. The deal for world all language rights in two books was struck with Clare Wallace at Darley Anderson Children’s Book Agency. Whitehead will be editing alongside Karelle Tobias, Junior Editor.

Charlie Moyler, Art Director, acquired illustrations by Simran Singh from Davinia Andrew-Lynch at Curtis Brown, and Kat Cassidy, Junior Designer, will be designing the books.

Controlling the wind, smelling fear, farting colours… The people of Walsham can do it all! The WHOLE TOWN has been granted powers by a mysterious treasure, except for Sara. She can’t even levitate a squirrel!

But the school football trophy (and her best friend Georgie’s lucky charm) has been stolen, and powers or no powers, it’s up to her to find it and catch the criminal. And who knows – maybe Sara will discover her super skills in the process… (She certainly hopes she will!).

Mattie Whitehead and Karelle Tobias said:

Anyone who has read Nate’s books or has met him will know that his humour is next level. That humour combined with great characters, a twisty mystery and a dollop of silly superpowers makes this series an absolute treat. We’ve loved and laughed working on the series with Nate and we can’t wait for readers to meet Sara and her friends (and nemeses…) and discover their own superpowers.

Nathanael Lessore said:

Having grown up as the biggest superhero nerd, consuming anything DC or Marvel, it’s a dream come true to write my own superhero story with such a talented and thoughtful publisher behind me. My editors are just as playful and whacky with the ideas as I am, and Simran’s illustrations bring the characters and the world to life in a spectacularly fun way! Sara and her friends prove that being a hero is about more than just wearing a cape, and friendship is more effective than any superpower. 

Simran Singh said:

I’m so excited to work on this project and CAN’T WAIT ’til its release. I’ve loved designing the characters so far and I’m so looking forward to illustrating all their goofy scenes!

Little Tiger will be publishing Solving Crime is NOT my Superpower in March 2025, with book two, Time Travel is NOT my Superpower, to follow in Autumn 2025.

Nathanael Lessore was born in Camberwell, South East London, as one of eight children to French and Madagascan parents. Although he spent most of his life in Peckham, Nathanael has also lived in Paris, Strasbourg, and Singapore. Nathanael became a Marketing Executive after graduating from the University of East London, believing at the time that a Creative Writing degree destined him for a career in marketing. His debut Steady For This published in 2023 and is currently longlisted for the Branford Boase and Jhalak Prize, and shortlisted for the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Writing. Writing it gave him the opportunity to show his Southeast London childhood as the funny, warm, adventurous world that wasn’t always represented as such.

Author social media handles

Twitter/X: @NateLessore

 

Simran Singh is an illustrator and character designer based in East London. She has always been in awe of everything creative, especially when it comes to world-building and bringing characters to life!